Hands of Time
by butterflycatalyst
Summary: After escaping to his secret ice cream haven, Kaito is given a mysterious stopwatch. When it starts to warp time, he must find a way to stop it before his friends disappear forever. Multi-chapter.
1. And the wheels began to turn

"Hands of time"

Multi-Chapter

Vocaloid

Author's note: Hey guys! I finally made a return to fanfiction, bahaha. This should be interesting.

Kaito watched the sun rise that morning as always. His apartment was filled with people he knew, so he practically dreaded getting up in the early hours of the day (which was funny because he was often the loudest and most rambunctious). As he ruffled his blue hair and carelessly let out a loud yawn, he found himself standing in front of his mirror. What bothered him was in fact not his appearance - it was the empty container of strawberry ice cream sitting by the foot of his night stand behind him.

While he had been watching TV that night (K-dramas, but he doesn't like to say that), he finished the last carton of ice cream he had won in a bet against Len. Strange how quickly 10 gallons of that delectable desert can disappear in less than a day.

"I should get more while everyone is out." Kaito muttered under his breath, silently putting on a pair of jeans and his t-shirt of the week.

Since Meiko had forced him into a diet, no one in the complex allowed him anywhere near an ice cream vendor, freezer, or Len, who just so happened to have purchased another 10 gallons to rub it in.

Kaito muttered a colorful slew of words about his blonde companion before closing the door behind him and walking down the stairs, two by two. The sound of a vending machine plunking out sodas echoed through the 1st floor hallways, and Kaito began his trek down the sidewalk.

He hummed along, stopping to greet his neighbors and walking faster near the creepier ones. In his haste, he had forgotten his keys, but decided that was a problem to be dealt with later.

There was one place none of his friends had ever even heard of: it was the park a few blocks down that was claimed to be haunted. Naturally, everyone he knew didn't particularly want to travel the road there, so detours were often made. But one night when Kaito had ventured there by accident, he discovered his newest best friend: the ice cream vendor Rico, who sold some of the best ice cream in the city. He chose the location because he wanted to see what brave souls would venture there, and that only those people deserved to taste his legendary delicacies (Kaito didn't disagree with this, of course).

He would only come monthly to prevent Meiko from noticing, and today was his day. Nothing could stop him from reaching his cup of strawberry swirl sorbet.

It was pure luck that nothing did. Kaito reached the park safely, making the swift climb up the brick wall and jumping safely on to the grass on the other side. It was a beautiful and sunny day, with birds singing in the trees. He had never bothered asking why the place was thought to be haunted, but then again didn't want to know.

Rico waved him over, scooping up the traditional strawberry swirl that Kaito so greatly revered.

Kaito smiled as Rico handed him the cup and stuck a spoon in it. But just as he was about to take a bite, Rico stopped him.

"What is it?" Kaito questioned, looking up and smashing the top of the perfect swirl idly.

"I have something to give you. But don't tell anyone, alright?" Rico said quietly, reaching into a compartment on the side of his stand.

It was a perfectly preserved, crystalline stopwatch.

If Kaito had only known what would happen, he would have declined Rico's offer...


	2. Good morning, sunshine

"Hands of time"

Multi-Chapter

Vocaloid

Rico held it up to the light. The stopwatch glittered like a clear-cut diamond. Kaito frowned, eating his ice cream as he observed the item that was now in his hand.

"What is this? Why are you giving it to me?" he muttered, confused.

Rico wiped his hands on his apron and looked out into the distance calmly. "There was a young man, and he looked quite mysterious. Told me to give this to you for whatever reason. I wouldn't have done it, but this might add a bit of adventure to your life."

"I'm fine without adventure." Kaito replied, turning the item over in his hand repeatedly. "Why would he give it to me though, of all people?"

"Beats me." Rico shrugged, pulling a towel from the same compartment and wiping down his stand.

"The time is wrong." Kaito observed randomly, resetting it by hand.

"Well, it should be fine now. Get on with it - there's something interesting in there somewhere, I can just feel it!" Rico shouted loudly, laughing.

Kaito spent the day walking around the park, and even taking a nap. Oddly enough, the time would always reset to 12 when he looked back down at it. By the time about half a day had passed, he jumped over the fence again.

It was still bright, and everything was in its place as it had been that morning. Kaito checked his normal wristwatch, which read 7:49 PM.

What was going on?

He walked around, and all he heard were morning greetings. People passed by him on the street drinking coffee and running off to early morning commutes. The sun was barely past the horizon.

Luka was sitting on the bench next to the apartment building as she had been earlier in the day (he didn't bother looking in her direction that morning though). She glanced up and laughed, waving.

"Morning, Kaito. Why do you look so upset?" she asked, her eyes scanning him. "You look like you're running from the cops. There's even leaves in your hair."

Kaito sighed, annoyed. "Look, I was at that park down the street just this morning, and now my watch reads PM, but everyone here is acting like the sun just rose! Do you have any idea what's happening?"

Luka rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about? It's morning right now. Did you get enough sleep? Maybe you were dreaming."

Kaito ran over and showed her his watch. She looked at it in surprise. "Well, it could just be a messed up clock. Try resetting your watch or getting a new one."

Kaito pulled his arm away, irritated. "Just forget it. I'll figure this out on my own."

Luka frowned. "Are you sure? You seem so agitated. Want to get some tea?"

He shook his head and began to walk off. "Just leave it, Luka. I'm going somewhere else to figure this out."

Kaito ran down the block, narrowly running into Gumi, who was walking with huge packages in her hands. She seemed to be struggling, but he had no time to stop and help her. He had to find Rico, and ask him why it was still morning when hours had clearly passed by.

When he jumped the fence, it was still 7 PM on his normal wristwatch. He walked the leaf-strewn path to where Rico was serving ice cream to some pedestrians. After they had left, he placed the stopwatch on the counter. Rico looked up at him, confused.

"How did you get your hands on that? I was just about to give that to you. Well, nevermind. The usual, right?" he asked, grabbing a cup from the holder.

"No, no. You already gave this to me earlier. I wanted to know why everyone thinks its still morning. I was in the park for at least half a day." Kaito ranted, not minding that he was getting another serving of strawberry sorbet.

Rico shook his head. "It was never morning until now. Are you ok? Did you hit your head?"

It was then Kaito realized that only he had memories of what had really happened. Somehow, ever since he had gotten the stopwatch, time had rearranged itself. And on top of that, he had no clue of how to stop it.

He was on his own.


	3. Detail oriented

Kaito paced back and forth in the park, holding the stopwatch in his hand. It was yesterday evening now in the warped time, and morning two days later on his wristwatch.

"What am I going to do?" he sighed to himself, frustrated and confused.

So far, no one but him had memories of anything. And he was fairly sure it had something to do with the watch he was holding. But since he was feeling lost and a bit confused, he decided to sit under a tree in the park and think.

His friends never really thought of him as the smartest guy in the world, but even he knew that something had gone wrong, and he needed to get a hold on the situation before it got out of control.

He would need some help, but if no one would believe him, who could he possibly talk to?

Meiko was definitely out of the question. She was very violent and bossy, and she would figure out that he was only coming to the park for the dairy delights that awaited him.

Kaito sighed. The only person who would think out the situation logically was Luka, but even she had been skeptical. Whatever the case, none of the others fit the bill, and she had already spoken to him earlier. Even if Rico could remember who the guy was that gave him the stopwatch, his friend was known to have terrible memory and would, without a doubt, have forgotten what the person looked like by now.

What concerned him far more was that from what he had seen in movies and read in books, any characters involved in time warps often were affected in some way. He wondered what would happen to his friends and even himself as the time continued to screw up - would everything stay messed up? And who was the person who gave him the stopwatch anyway? Did they do it for a reason?

It was too much to think about - his head was already spinning from how much ice cream he had eaten, and from the sheer confusion he had faced when he discovered that time outside the park had literally stopped the moment he walked inside, and started moving again when he left.

If the connection was to the park, and he needed someone's help, he would have to first ask Rico if he remembered anything to make sure...

As he walked up to the fairly round Italian man, he leaned against the counter sluggishly. Kaito felt worn out and irritated beyond measure.

"Rico, do you remember anything about the guy who gave me the stopwatch?"

Rico shook his head. "All I remember is that he wore a thick red trench coat."

Kaito nodded, urging him to keep talking. "Okay, and what time did he give it to you? Did he say anything?"

Rico sighed. "Sorry, I don't remember much else. I only remember that it was late yesterday, I think."

"Thanks." Kaito called, running out of the park quickly.

He had to find Luka, and then he had to convince her that he wasn't just messed up in the head. This would be one interesting week.


End file.
